Mr. Speaker, the Member raises the question about the previous government having done some work on the N’dilo road there. As the Minister, I would be happy to sit down with the Member and possibly some of the leadership of N’dilo in terms of looking at this issue within the municipal boundaries. I need to sit down with the Member and see where he sees his part in terms of assisting with this issue, probably with the city. So I’d like to have this discussion further with the Member once we can arrange some time to sit down together.

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister for those comments. He’s quite correct; I believe it was Mr. Ballantyne in the past who actually arranged for a small, central strip of pavement to be laid down on this road. It’s long gone now, of course. But it does show there is some feeling of responsibility and a role for the territorial government. I appreciate the Minister’s comments. Would he be willing to contact the members of the Yellowknife Dene First Nation, say within the week, during their protest here and let them know he is interested and supportive and will be seeking ways to help out with this?

Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to call the leadership. Also, I would have to speak very clearly on that in terms of the

department facilitating, possibly, some meetings between the proper authorities in terms of this responsibility. I’ll look into it more and work with the Member in terms of how we facilitate something the Member is raising today.

We have a record number of years, now, of government saying they’re not sure where the responsibilities lie, and so on. So obviously, we’re looking for resolution. The Minister has made that commitment. Does the Minister have some source of funds that could at least help to get this program started and off the ground — the chipseal program, et cetera?

Mr. Speaker, I can discuss this with my officials and would certainly keep Mr. Bromley in the loop in terms of our responsibility — where it starts and where it stops in terms of dealing with the municipalities. We certainly want to facilitate this discussion with him. As Mr. Bromley knows, this could also be requested from other communities in other regions, so I want to be very careful in terms of our investment, in terms of where we are. But I will be there to sit down with the leadership, Mr. Bromley, and have that discussion with the appropriate authorities.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Deputy Premier, Mr. Miltenberger.

First, I’d just like to note that Premier Roland is out meeting with the other First Ministers at the annual Western Premiers Conference in Prince Albert. They took time to recognize this important day and encourage everybody to take part and look to how we can do things better.

In regard to the question from the Member, clearly the budget that’s before this House is replete with areas where there’s money for communities. We have a unique circumstance: there are only two

jurisdictions in Canada that have consensus government. They have a 50 per cent aboriginal population. We have a public government that administers programs on behalf of all Northerners. We have a health system, education system, tourism, economic development, transportation; every program we deliver is there for all Northerners. We try to pay attention to small communities as well. We have many other initiatives as we struggle to deal with the cost of living and some of the social indicators. Clearly, everything we do is geared toward having the best possible life for all Northerners, including aboriginal people.

As I stated in my statement, just by assessing the incomes of people who live in small aboriginal communities in relation to larger centres, where the average income in the small community is $30,000 and in the larger centres it’s $90,000…. That alone tells you the economy in those communities is not there. I’d like to ask the Minister: exactly what is this government doing to stimulate the economies of those communities and not simply put the people on income support or welfare?

First, let me state that a good education is the best investment we can make for any Northerner or any Canadian. The statistics show very clearly that the better educated you are, the better your job opportunities. The employment rate among those with college degrees and diplomas and university degrees is very, very high. It is in the 90 per cent range, I believe. In the small communities we recognize there are limited opportunities. With those that are close to a major resource development, there’s been impact benefit agreements. We have extensive support for adult upgrading education. We have funding through the BDIC to work with local small business initiatives. We have ITI. We want to work with the aboriginal governments as well as look at pooling our money. There are a host of ways we’re trying to work to improve the quality of life for all those in all communities.

I know I’ve heard this issue around the table a couple times here today: dust control, pavement in communities. That’s a quality-of-life issue. I think that by hearing it here today…. It was raised in the protest I was at today; that item was heard loud and clear down Franklin Avenue. As a government, a good example is the quality of life in communities. The day of dust and dust and more dust is gone. I think this government has to have a better program in place to improve the quality of life in communities. I’d like to ask the Minister: exactly what are we doing to really improve the quality of life for people in our 28 communities in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. We’re going into a bit of a different line of questioning here, but I’ll allow the Minister to answer. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the good things about having the march down Franklin Avenue, of course, is that it’s fully paved with curbs and gutters. Although it’s not an issue here in Yellowknife, I appreciate the concern of the Member.

I want to point out that the Government of the Northwest Territories through MACA has significantly increased funding to communities with the gas tax money, the infrastructure money that has been flowed to the governments. I believe there’s another $25 million in the budget as well, this time, to further supplement the funding to communities. We’re working very hard through the New Deal to make sure communities have the tools and ability to be able to deal with issues in the communities such as dust control.

Again, I’d like to ask the Minister: do they have a plan to deal with poverty in the Northwest Territories and compare it to the national statistics out there? Living in the Northwest Territories it’s pretty obvious we have homeless people, who we see here in the streets in Yellowknife. We see the drug abuse that’s going on. It is affecting all communities in the Northwest Territories. Again, that’s another sign of poverty.

I’d like to ask the Deputy Premier: is this government going to develop any statistics by way of the request that was made to deal with the poverty of children in the Northwest Territories and also with investment in those communities? I’d like to ask the Deputy Premier: is that something this government is developing as part of your strategic initiative to ensure we have a document that can…?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. I’ll let the Minister answer.

Clearly the initiatives that we’re working on, including the cost of living, maximizing benefits for Northerners, improving services to communities, are all geared to that end. Clearly, as it was pointed by the Member for Tu Nedhe, while we have one of the hottest economies in the country and our unemployment rate is overall very low, not all communities have shared the benefits of that rapid expansion and hot economy. What we have to do is be able to create a rising tide that raises all the boats of all communities, not just a select few. That is a challenge before us, and it’s one we’re committed to working on.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Mr. Speaker, in today’s Member’s statement I talked about the need to help eliminate red tape. I highlighted that the lead Minister, Minister Miltenberger, will be leading a committee called Refocusing Government Strategic Initiative Committee. He talked about a lot of actions, but there’s a special area he quotes where he talks about efficient and effect government.

I’d suggested a red tape initiative, and I’d like to hear if our lead Minister on this file, Minister Miltenberger, would take on this task and add this to the mandate of this Refocusing Government Committee.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Miltenberger.

That function is implicit in the work we do. I acknowledge the Member’s point. If it needs to be more explicit, then we will make it so. I do want to point out that some of the things we’re doing, like boards and agencies, for example, are by definition going to be exercises in efficiency. We’re going to look at rationalizing policies, legislation, bringing together financial systems to get away from duplication of services so that any funds freed up can be put into program delivery. Those are all going to be ways that will address the issue the Member has raised.

We have policies that are in writing that we have a hard enough time getting fulfilled and followed. Consensus is implicit, as we all know, but at times it isn’t done that simply. If Minister Miltenberger is saying he would be willing to put it into writing clearly that elimination of red tape will be an initiative they’ll take on, I would prefer he do that. Would he do that?

As we work with the federal government and Mr. McCraig to sort our regulatory reform and streamlining of processes, so too are we doing that through our internal processes. While we may not use the term “red tape,” I will commit to the Member that we will look at recognizing and realizing the same such efficiencies through processes, clear policies — maybe fewer policies, better-coordinated policies — and better and more coordinated interaction between the different arms of government.

Nothing would be more clear than if we added an item number 6 under his actions that said, Work to eliminate red tape at every possibility.